


Time for a roadtrip!

by passionatememes



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Bunnies, DMMD AU, EVERYONE IS ALIVE AND HAPPY, Everyone Is Alive, No Romance, Other, Platonic Relationships, and happy, beach day 4 everyone, dmmd - Freeform, implied romantic ships though lmao, just a bunch of bros being dudes, volleyball games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-10 18:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4402352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/passionatememes/pseuds/passionatememes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba decided to take his friends on a roadtrip, but maybe he should have gotten a bigger van. But what's better than this--bros being dudes.<br/>(unfinished-- sorry :/ )</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Oi, move your ass!” Koujaku jabbed Noiz in the ribs with his elbow but Noiz didn’t react, continuing his video game on his coil and turning the music up louder in his earbuds. Koujaku and everyone else in the car could hear the sounds of a battle from the earbuds inserted into Noiz’s ears. Aoba sighed.

It was going to be a long trip.

He had convinced everyone to go on a roadtrip to the coast with him, they would stay at a cute little house by the beach for two weeks and then return back to Midorijima. The eight of them, Aoba, Koujaku, Mizuki, Ren, Sei, Mink, Noiz, and Clear had all squished into a minivan that Aoba had rented for the week. The only problem was that the minivan was set to seat seven people, not eight. The seating was tight, Mink was driving with Clear in the passenger seat--Aoba had been there but then switched spots with Clear to be in the middle seat to try and comfort a very carsick Ren--and that meant that Mizuki, Sei, Koujaku, and Noiz all had to squeeze into the back together, a seat meant for three people instead of four.

“Everybody shut the fuck up.” Mink glared at everyone through the rear view mirror, sighing and muttering something else to himself under his breath. Ren let out a small groan as the car took a slight left, his head against the window and his eyes focusing on the road ahead. Sei tried to entertain both himself and Mizuki with playing eye spy but Mizuki was more interested in the tension between Koujaku and Noiz. Koujaku had elbowed him again and caused him to mess up something in his game and now they were bickering. Again.

“Fuck you, your own fat ass is why there’s no room in this car!”

“What the fuck did you just say?!” Koujaku shoved him over so he was pressed up against the side of the seat.

“Get off of me!”

“Stop being a fucking brat first!”

Aoba turned around, feeling like a mother stuck in the car with two fighting siblings. “Koujaku, stop.” He sighed. “You two need to get along, at least while you’re in this car. I will drop you off on the side of the highway so you can find your own way back.”

“Good. I never wanted to go on this dumb trip in the first place.” Noiz huffed and pushed Koujaku back towards Mizuki and Sei.

“You’re so ungrateful! Do you know how much a vacation like this costs us people with real jobs?!”

“Sei has to pee!” Mizuki announced in a loud voice, overpowering Koujaku and Noiz’s fighting. Sei’s eyes widened and he smacked Mizuki’s arm gently. “I told you to only ask to stop somewhere! Without mentioning that!”

“So we need to stop somewhere,” Mizuki added, sending a small smile to a pouting Sei. Mink gave a grunt of affirmation and turned into the left lane to take the next exit.

“Hey! Maybe we should do a sing-along!”  Clear suggested. “Then nobody could argue!”

“No!” The entire rest of the car replied simultaneously, except for Ren who just looked miserable as the car took a sharp right. They stopped at a gas station and everyone got out of the van as fast as they could. Mink leaned against it and lit his pipe, rubbing his head to try and get rid of a headache. Sei jumped out and hurried inside to find a bathroom, Noiz heading inside the gas station as well. Koujaku stretched his muscles, complaining to Mizuki about having to be stuck in one small place for so long. Aoba looked at Ren and frowned, feeling bad for him.

“I’m gonna go get you some motion sickness medicine,” he decided, smiling reassuringly. “I’ll be right back.” Ren gave a small nod, glad to be no longer moving and out of the stuffy car as Aoba walked inside just in time to see Noiz with around twenty candy bars on the counter to buy. Alongside that, he had two full sized bags of chips, a hot dog, and three energy drinks.

“Don’t buy that hot dog. I don’t trust gas station unpackaged foods, honestly,” Aoba suggested, finding some medicine for Ren and grabbing a box of it.

Noiz shrugged. “Food is food.”

“Are you going to eat all of that yourself?”

“Probably. Want one?” Noiz reached under the counter and grabbed another candy bar, adding it to the pile the already overwhelmed cashier was scanning.

“I mean I guess,” Aoba said, sending the cashier an apologetic glance. “Thanks.”

Noiz gave a grunt in reply and Aoba grabbed a few bottles of water to buy along with the medicine, standing in the line behind Noiz so he could pay.

Finally they were back on the road. Noiz had his bags of candy, chips, and energy drinks by his feet, Ren had fallen asleep shortly after taking the medicine (it was the kind that made people drowsy, Aoba found when reading the back of the package), Clear was drawing in his sketchbook. Sei had opted to sit next to Noiz so that Koujaku didn’t have to and they were chatting about some video game Aoba didn’t really know about. Mizuki and Koujaku were talking too and Aoba decided to join into the conversation.

“Hey, Aoba!” Mizuki smiled. “What’s the place like? The place we’re staying.”

“Well, it’s right on the beach! There’s a kitchen and a living room and I think three bathrooms?”

“What about bedrooms?”

“There’s four bedrooms, so we all have to double up.”

Mizuki nodded, smiling again. “Alright!”

Koujaku grinned. “I’m excited to see the ocean again! It’s been awhile since I’ve been there… The last time was with my mom.”

Aoba nodded. “Same. I was there when I was like, really small… I’m ready to return!”

“Me too!” Mizuki chimed in. “Ahh, maybe I can buy some henna and give you all some henna tattoos.”

Sei leaned in to talk with them, Noiz getting involved in his video game again. “I’ve never seen the ocean… Not even really in pictures. What’s it like?”

“It’s kind of overwhelming at first,” Koujaku admitted. “It just seems like it could go on forever because you can’t see where it ends. And it seems so powerful too…”

“But it’s really nice to sit out on the sand when it’s sunny and then go walk in the water a little.” Aoba smiled at Sei, excited for him to see the ocean.

“I bet we could play volleyball or something!” Mizuki grinned. “There’s usually a public volleyball net set out. Maybe we could get a frisbee too. “

“I’d rather build a sand castle or something,” Aoba admitted.

“Me too,” Sei decided. “I’d rath-“

All of a sudden, there was a noise like a gunshot. Everyone jumped, some of them ducking down in case there was really someone shooting at them.

“What the fuck was that?!” Aoba looked up at Mink who was looking in the car’s mirrors.

“Fucking tire popped,” Mink hissed, steering the car onto the sidelines of the highway and then putting it into park. “Everybody out.”

 

“… What now?” Aoba asked, looking at the deflated tire. There was no way they could drive with this.

“We find the spare, right?” Clear asked. “I think it’s in the hood of the car! I read the little booklet they keep in the compartment in the front!”

Clear opened the hood of the car, only to find that the spare tire wasn’t there.

“… But it said it was here!” Clear frowned, “Really, it did!”

“I guess that means that the last time this happened, the rental people didn’t replace the tire…” Koujaku put his hands on his hips. “Fucking bastards.”

“So what now?” Mizuki was flipping through the owner’s manual, making sure that Clear had read it right. He put it back in the dashboard after finding that the spare tire was indeed supposed to be in the hood of the car.

“Hey, string bean,” Koujaku said to Noiz. “Make yourself useful and find a towing company we can call. That’s probably the best we can do right now.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Noiz muttered, looking it up anyways. He didn’t want to be stuck on the side of the highway either. After finding the number, Koujaku called them.

“They’ll be here in like half an hour,” he reported to everyone else.

“I better call our place and let them know we’ll be late…” Aoba sighed, opening up his coil and calling the number of the place. The people there assured him that it would be fine and they could arrive anytime and Aoba went back and joined the group.

“While we wait, we should at least do something productive,” he decided. “Noiz, share some of the food you bought and take out your headphones, everyone come here.”

With some grumbling, the group did as they were told. They all sat in the van, some of them on the floor, as Aoba talked.

“We should get this out of the way now,” he explained, unwrapping one of the candy bars that Noiz had bought. “Basically, the place we’re staying has four rooms. There’s eight of us, we need to double up. Who wants to sleep with who? There’s only one bed in each room.

Clear clapped his hands together, excited. “I don’t sleep but I could share a room with Mink! Then he could have the bed all to himself!”

Mink grunted. “Whatever,” he agreed.

“I’m okay with anyone,” Mizuki offered, shrugging. “Whoever wants me can have me for this.”

Sei looked at him, Aoba noticed, and Mizuki made a finger gun out of his hand and pointed it at Sei. “I choose Sei!”

“… If it’s not too selfish of me to request, I’d like to room with you, Aoba,” Ren said, still tired from his medicine-induced nap. Aoba smiled.

“That’s fine, Ren!”

“Hold up. Hold the fuck up.” Noiz frowned. “I am not sharing a room with that hot headed freak.”

Koujaku wasn’t happy about this either. “Aoba, I can share a room with you and Ren instead. I’d rather sleep on the floor than with that asshole.”

“Maybe it could be a chance for you two to get over your differences and bond together!” Clear tried to clear the air with some optimism.  It didn’t work.

“Doubtful. He’s too proud to admit that he’s being stupid.”

“Hey! You’re the one who’s starting this! Every single time we fight it’s because of you!”

“Maybe Clear’s right,” Mizuki offered. Aoba wasn’t sure if he was saying that because he thought that they could actually bond or because Mizuki liked to tease Koujaku.

“Mizuki! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Koujaku huffed.

“This settles it,” Aoba said, smiling nervously. Tonight could either go really well or be a disaster with Koujaku and Noiz sleeping in the same room. Aoba hoped that Noiz wouldn’t instigate Koujaku like he normally did, it would be late and he didn’t want to have to break them apart. Koujaku groaned and Noiz rolled his eyes, climbing back into the back seat and putting his earbuds back in his ears.

Just then, the towing company arrived with the spare tire. They changed the tire on the minivan and Aoba payed them, making a mental note to have the place they rented the van from reimburse him.

Then they were back on their way.

Aoba had no idea that being in the car for so long would be so tiring. He looked around him at everyone else, Ren had fallen back asleep and Sei had done the same, resting on Mizuki’s shoulder. Noiz was still absorbed into his video game and Koujaku was watching the scenery out the window, spacing out. Clear was singing softly to himself as he sung his feet back and forth in the passenger seat and Mink seemed simply glad that nobody was bickering or yelling anymore.

“Yo,” Mizuki said, breaking the almost-silence. “Are we there yet?”

“Does it look like we’re there yet?” Aoba asked, fiddling with his coil and bringing up a live map of their location and their destination. “Twenty more minutes until we get into town.”

Mizuki groaned softly, being careful not to wake Sei up. “That’s too long… We’ve been in the car for hours!”

“Six hours and forty-seven minutes!” Clear paused his singing and looked back at them cheerfully. He was the only one who seemed unaffected by the long drive. “Aoba, you should probably come back up front soon though, you have the directions, right?”

Aoba nodded.

“I have to make one last stop for gas anyways,” Mink muttered, getting off at the next exit. He parked the car at the gas station. “Who’s paying for gas this time around?”

“It’s Koujaku’s turn,” Aoba said, reaching over and poking Koujaku’s cheek. “Hey, you’re paying for gas.”

Koujaku turned and then huffed, sliding his coil off his arm and handing it to Aoba who passed it to Mink. Mink got out of the car and then decided against being the one to actually fill the van with gas. Instead, he handed Koujaku’s coil to Clear.

“You do it,” he said before walking to the side of the building and pulling out his pipe. Clear blinked and then nodded. “Okay!”

Mizuki slowly pulled his arm out from under the sleeping Sei, helping him rest on Noiz while he got out. Noiz glanced at Mizuki and then Sei and then went back to playing his game, not caring much.

“Holy fuck, I gotta pee,” Mizuki muttered to himself, hopping out of the van. Aoba followed so he could stretch his legs and so did Koujaku.

“At least we’re almost there,” Aoba tried, sensing Koujaku’s grumpy mood. Koujaku grunted, leaning against the van. “I’m gonna sleep on the floor in your room or something.”

“You two need to learn to work together, you know…” Aoba sighed. “It’s tiring to watch you guys fight.”

“I know that, but I don’t think that us being in the same room trying to sleep in the same bed is the best way to get us to ‘bond’ or whatever you’re trying to make us do. Especially when we’re both tired.”

“I’ll tell him not to instigate you.” Aoba was concerned too, he didn’t want to force Koujaku to do anything he was really uncomfortable with and he didn’t want Koujaku to end up losing control over something Noiz said.

“Both you and I know perfectly well what could happen,” Koujaku snapped, almost reading Aoba’s mind. “… I just don’t want that to actually happen,” he added in a softer tone.

Aoba sighed. “… Give it one night, okay? I don’t know how well Ren would sleep if  he had to sleep with someone he’s not so comfortable with… No offense to you or Noiz, of course. But he’s still getting used to sleeping in general. This whole thing is so hard, one way or another.”

“… One night,” Koujaku agreed finally, glancing at the van. “But if it doesn’t work, then I’ll sleep on the couch or something.”

“I know you and him will be fine with each other eventually. Even if it takes time, you two really do need to stop fighting all the time.” He huffed and Koujaku gave an over exaggerated pout.

“Aoba you’re so mean… Forcing me to sleep in the same bed as my rival and then lecturing me about how I need to get along with him…” He gave a small grin after, Aoba matching it.

Clear then walked over, smiling and waving. “Koujaku, here’s your coil back!” He gave it to the taller man and then turned to Aoba. “We should get going. Is Mizuki back from the bathroom?”

“I am now,” Mizuki interrupted, leaning against both Koujaku and Aoba and groaning. “Uhhhah… Why is driving so tiring…”

“I like it,” Clear decided. “It’s really fun to see all these things outside the window! Thank you, Aoba, for inviting me!”

“Mmhm,” Aoba replied, getting in the passenger seat. “Koujaku, you can take my seat if Clear doesn’t mind being all the way in the back.”

“That’s okay with me!” Clear carefully climbed over Ren and sat at the window seat. Mizuki followed him and squeezed in between Clear and Sei, who didn’t wake up. Koujaku went along to the other side and sat in Aoba’s seat, letting out a small sigh of relief as he realized how much more room he had now. Mink started the car and they were back on the road.

Nobody said much until they started getting into the beach town they were staying in.

“Turn into that exit!” Aoba said excitedly as the exit approached. Mink did as he was asked and they soon entered what seemed to be an endless stretch of beach houses and tourist shops. Sea sponges, shells, all sorts of different food were displayed in front of shops and restaurants. Clear was pressed against the window, taking it all in, as was Aoba and Mizuki. Koujaku was watching all the things go by, also excited but openly.

“Take that right,” Aoba instructed.

“Aoba!” Clear suddenly yelled, waking the two who had previously been asleep. “Maybe I’ll see a jellyfish! A real live jellyfish!”

“Nngh…?” Sei mumbled, a bit disoriented after being awakened with such a loud and sudden noise. Ren also looked a bit confused, staring out the window.

“… Have we arrived?” He asked, rolling down his window and letting the ocean breeze wash over him and everybody else in the car. Koujaku and Aoba did the same.

“Almost!” Aoba smiled back at him.

“Really?” Sei leaned to the side, trying to get a good glimpse of the ocean.

“Yes! Mink, turn left here! And then pull into that driveway!”

“How long was I asleep…” muttered Ren, looking up at the night sky. The light pollution didn’t allow there to be many stars available for view, but it was still dark enough to show that it was at least sometime in the evening.

“Almost the entire ride,” Koujaku said, turning to him and smiled. “It’s better than being carsick though, right?”

“I think so, yes.”

“This driveway?” Mink asked, slowing down as they approached the driveway that Aoba had pointed out.

“Yes!” Aoba grinned as they pulled into it and Mink turned the car off. Most of them almost fell out of the car in their excitement to get out and see their home for the next two weeks.

“Let’s go down to the beach!” Mizuki decided. “Yo, I bet swimming at night would be fucking badass! Let’s do it!”

“I’ll race you down there,” Koujaku declared. Aoba grinned. “I could beat you both!”

“Wanna bet?” Koujaku pulled the top of his kimono off of his torso, letting it hang down so he could have free use of both his arms. The tattoos on his chest were something Aoba still wasn’t used to, but nevertheless, Aoba was glad to see the smiles shared between them and then took off running.

“Hey! That’s unfair!” Mizuki yelled as he ran after him, hopping the gate Aoba was trying to unhinge. Koujaku followed suit and Aoba ran after the two of them once he managed to get the gate open. They ran down a small grassy path that slowly turned into sand and then stopped as soon as the ocean came into view. Ren, Clear and Sei arrived a few minutes later and joined the three already there.

“Woahh!” Clear was the first to speak, clapping his hands together in excitement. “Look how big it is! It could stretch on forever!”

“It’s a reminder of how big the world is,” Mizuki made a face at that. “Which is both good and bad, depending on who you are.”

Ren looked at Aoba, remembering how their time in scrap together had lead them to that beach where both Aoba and Ren’s lives had begun. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a beach, Aoba. A long time since a real one, anyways…”

“Yeah!” Aoba smiled. “It’s good to be back at one.”

“Hey, who wants to go night swimming?!” Mizuki grinned and kicked off his shoes, stripping down to his underwear and then running to meet the waves. Koujaku followed suit, rolling his pants up to above his knees instead and then went to join him and Aoba did too. Sei, Clear, and Ren stayed back away from the water.

Clear looked over at Sei, who hadn’t said anything yet. “This is your very first time seeing the ocean, right?” He smiled at Sei and Sei nodded. “What do you think?”

“I think…” Sei looked out at the ocean and at the three figures splashing each other with the cold night water. Koujaku and Mizuki had ganged up against Aoba and Aoba’s squeals of protest could be heard from all the way up the beach.

“I think it’s magnificent.” Sei let a giant smile rise up to his face as he turned to Clear. “It’s better than I ever imagined!”

“I know right! Hold on, I think that Noiz and Mink are missing out! They need to see this!” Clear turned and ran back towards the house to fetch the two who had decided to stay back.

“… Sei, I’m glad that you’re able to be here to see this sight,” Ren decided, looking over at him.

Sei smiled. “I’m glad too. I never, ever would of thought that I would be so lucky to get to see the ocean… I’m so grateful that it worked out so that I would be privileged to do this!” Clear joined them again, this time towing Mink and Noiz by the hands so they would have to sit by the beach with everyone else. “I got an idea guys!” He said. “Nobody has had dinner yet, so even though it’s 10:34 PM, we could have a picnic on the beach! A moonlit picnic! And maybe we’ll get to see some jellyfish if they swim close enough!”

“The picnic has to be on dry sand,” Noiz decided, opening up his game again. “I don’t want to get wet.”

Mink didn’t say anything, staring off at the sea. He had a somewhat nostalgic look on his face, Sei noticed.

“We don’t have any food to eat,” Ren added. Aoba said that we would go food shopping tomorrow.

“Order a pizza,” Noiz suggested. “Or some sort of take-out food.”

Aoba had walked back up to join them, dripping water out onto the sand. Everyone moved away from him, not wanting to get wet themselves.

“What are we doing?” He asked, ignoring more shouts from Koujaku and Mizuki as they turned on each other during their water fight.

“Ordering a pizza!” Clear smiled. “We are going to have a picnic on the beach in the dark! And maybe see a jellyfish! A lot of them are glow in the dark!”

“Okay cool,” Aoba replied, trying to untangle his now wet hair. “And Clear, you know that there’s an aquarium somewhere around here, right? They for sure have jellyfish you could go see.”

“Really?!” Clear was so excited. He grinned and nodded. “We absolutely have to go then!”

As Noiz stepped away to order the pizza, Aoba went back to the house to dry off and change clothes. He returned wearing a sweatshirt and bringing blankets, towels, more sweatshirts and two giant flashlights so they would be able to see. Ren hurried over to take some of the things burdening him, setting them down in the sand as Noiz returned from ordering the food.

“Someone's gonna have to pay the delivery guy with my money,” he warned. “I ordered beer.” Noiz huffed, obviously not enjoying being the only underage one there.

“I keep forgetting that you’re only nineteen,” Aoba laughed with a teasing air, setting all the things he was carrying down on the sand. “I guess that means you can’t drink with us.”

“Bullshit.” Noiz sat down and opened his coil again, playing the game he had been so into all day.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” laughed Aoba again, spreading the blanket out on the sand and then tossing Sei a sweatshirt. “Here,” he said. “You getting sick on the first day here would fucking suck.”

“Thanks.” Sei pulled the sweatshirt over his head and then the hood over his head, sitting on the blanket. Ren took a moment to turn on the flashlights and stick them upright in the sand and then joined him, Aoba, Noiz, Clear, and Mink on the blanket. Aoba stood up and yelled to the two still down by the water. “HEY! Get yourselves back up here! We ordered food!”

As Mizuki and Koujaku slowly made their way back, Aoba surveyed the scene around him. Judging by just the car ride today, the next two weeks would be an adventure. That’s for sure.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploration, a game of volleyball, and unexpected bunnies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA thank you all so much for commenting !!!! this chapter took longer than it shouldve but you guys gave me the motivation to actually finish this so thank you all so much!!
> 
> ok to explain a few things
> 
> i dont know how ren and sei are both existing as humans at the same tie honestly but those two are my faves and i want them to be able to both exist and be happy so sei has his body and ren has his rhyme body but just in the human world somehow
> 
> i dont know where they are in the world either bc theres nowhere to drive for 6 hours and then find a beach in the world of dmmd i think??? i dunno but theyre somwhere
> 
> thank you all again aaa let me know if you have any ideas for future chapters if you want because im not sure where this is going lmao

The next night wasn’t as bad as Aoba had expected. Koujaku and Noiz had managed to go to bed without any major issues, Sei felt comfortable enough with Mizuki to get a decent night’s sleep, Ren had been just fine after he had gotten out of the car. Everyone had been content.

The morning, however, had been a different story.

Aoba woke up to loud arguing. He groaned, taking the pillow and smothering his head with it to try to block out the noise. He heard Ren sit up and cured into a small sleepy ball, not wanting to be awake.

“Are you alright, Aoba?” Ren sounded concerned. Aoba groaned again.

“Nnnghh…” He adjusted the pillow so that he could look blearily up at Ren. “I’m going back to sleep… Whatever’s happenin’ out there can wait…”

“I am not sure if that’s wise,” Ren decided, listening to the voices outside. “It sounds as if Koujaku and Noiz are fighting again. Koujaku seems upset.”

“I’m going to be a lot more upset if I have to get up and break them apart,” Aoba decided. Groaning for a third time and pushing himself up, he shivered in the cool morning air and decided to put a sweatshirt over the t-shirt he was already wearing. He slammed the door open.

 

Both Noiz and Koujaku looked up at him and their eyes widened. Aoba glared at the both of them and put his hands on his hips.

 

“I don’t care what the hell happened,” he decided. “Walk away. Both of you. Now.” He saw the two of them hesitate and added in a stronger voice that he might’ve put in a bit of his Scrap into: “Now.”

 

Koujaku flipped Noiz off and then pushed past him to go downstairs. Noiz flipped him off in return but headed the opposite way back to his room instead. Aoba pushed back his bangs and rubbed his head, cursing when he felt the tinge of a headache start. He got into bed and pulled the covers over himself.   
“Ren, what time is it…?” He pulled the blankets around himself tighter. Hopefully, he would be able to fall back asleep…

“It is 10:23 AM, Aoba.” Ren informed him, a small hint of amusement playing in his words. He of all people knew how late Aoba could sleep if allowed.

“That’s so early!” Aoba whined, squeezing his eyes tight.

“I believe everybody else is already awake. I think that it would be best if you awoke as well.”

“Fuck that… It’s early and my head hurts.”

“Your head hurts?”

“Yeah. So I need more sleep.”

“Your head hasn’t hurt in a long time, Aoba. Correct?”

“Yeah. Not since that whole thing with Platinum Jail.” Aoba lifted his head to look at Ren, who now looked very concerned. “Ren, it’s fine. It’s probably because I used a little bit of Scrap when I yelled at Koujaku and Noiz.”

“You used Scrap?” Aoba sighed when he saw that his words hadn’t done much to ease Ren’s worries.

“Ren. It’s fine. You worry too much.” Ren opened his mouth to protest, but Aoba quickly hurried to fill the gap of silence. “Anyways, you succeeded to get me to wake up. Congrats…” He gave a small pout.

“I suppose I did,” Ren agreed. Aoba noticed that he had noted the change of subject but he seemed to have let it go.

“Let’s go downstairs then, at least. If they don’t have coffee made, things are going to get ugly fast though.”

 

When Aoba walked through the kitchen doorway, he noted that everyone else seemed a whole lot more awake than he was.

“Good morning, Aoba and Ren!” Clear waved, smiling wide. “How did you two sleep?”

“Good,” grunted Aoba. “Is there any coffee?”

“At 10:30? If you’re gonna get up this late, better get used to making your own coffee,” Mizuki teased as he lifted his own mug to his lips. “I’m having the last of it.”

“Are you serious?” Aoba looked disappointed. He scowled slightly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Yeah.” Mizuki laughed as he set his mug in the sink.

“Mizuki, that’s mean!” Clear pouted. “Aoba, he’s lying! We saved some for you! It’s in the pot still!”

It was uncanny how relieved Aoba looked once he heard that. “Thanks. Ren, you don’t want any, right?”

Ren shook his head. “No thank you.”

Aoba poured himself the last bit of coffee, adding a bit of sugar and creamer into it and then taking a sip. He looked over at everyone. “So. We should take a walk around town, I think.”

“Yes!” Clear nodded. “We have to find the place with the jellyfish!”

“The aquarium,” Mizuki corrected. He nodded. “Sounds good with me.”

Sitting at the table with his legs drawn to his chest, Sei nodded in agreement. Koujaku, who was sitting across from him nodded as well.

“Hey Aoba,” he said, grinning over at him. “You seriously act exactly like Tae when you’re mad, you know that, right?”

“I do not!” Aoba blinked at him, taking another sip of his coffee. His grandmother was definitely a lot tougher than he was. And he didn’t yell as much. For sure.

Koujaku laughed. “Yeah, okay. When you yelled at us, I thought for a split second that you really were her in disguise! It’s too bad you didn’t inherit her cooking instead of her temper, though.”

“Hey!” Aoba stuck his tongue out at his childhood friend indignantly. “My cooking may not be her’s, but it’s decent!”

“Yeah, okay.” Koujaku snickered teasingly and then lay out a map of the downtown area. “I got this while out shopping for food.”

“You went food shopping?” Aoba sipped his rapidly-cooling coffee and pouted. “I was going to do that.”

“We also unpacked the car,” Clear added, looking proud.

“You were asleep for a while…” Ren shrugged. “It was expected that everyone would end up doing the things that needed to be done.”

“Mmfh.” Aoba gave a grumpy grunt and finished off his coffee, setting the empty mug in the sink. “Then lets get dressed and go. I’ll find Noiz and Mink and drag them with us.”

 

That was easier said than done.

“Fuck no,” Noiz had replied when Aoba had told him that they were going to go to town and that he had to come with.

“Come on, Noiz!” Aoba pouted. “Come explore the town with us! It’ll be boring to be stuck inside this room all day. The sun is out and we’ll get something to eat too!”

“Someone down there went shopping already,” Noiz shrugged. “There’s food here.”

“Yes but there’ll be better food out there. You have five minutes to get ready.” Aoba closed the door and then looked around. If Noiz wasn’t ready, he’d drag him out of his room anyways. That kid really needed to get out more.

Now to find Mink.

Mink wasn’t in the room that he and Clear shared, in fact, he wasn’t in the house at all. After searching for a while, Aoba found him sitting in the backyard where he could see the ocean. Mink was staring out at it with his pipe in his mouth and a small trail of smoke rising up from it. As Aoba approached, Mink turned slightly as Aoba approached.

“Can I sit?” Aoba pointed to a spot next to Mink and Mink grunted, which Aoba took as a yes. He sat down next to him and stared out at the ocean as well for a minute.

“We were hoping to all go into town,” he finally informed him. “You should come with us, it’d be fun!”

Mink didn’t say anything, just exhaled and watched the smoke curl around itself.

“Is that a yes?” Aoba looked hopeful at him.

After another minute of silence, Mink sighed. “Fine. Just give me another few minutes.”

“Great!” Aoba jumped up and grinned. “We’ll all be ready!” Excited, he walked back to the house and then realized he was still in his pajamas. He raced to his room and got dressed just in time to see Noiz walk grumpily out of his bedroom.

“This is stupid,” he made sure to tell Aoba. Aoba rolled his eyes and then looked at Noiz’s outfit. He was wearing his regular ridiculous outfit with the double layers and then the wool hat. In the summer. At the beach.

“You are going to die of heat in that outfit,” Aoba said, crossing his arms. “Don’t you have any other clothes?”

“No.” Noiz shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not hot”

“Yes it is. Come here, you can wear something of mine.” Aoba went back into his room and found a pair of shorts and a tank top. “Change into these.”

“Whatever.” Noiz took them and escaped back into his room to change. He came out wearing the clothes that Aoba had given him, but still had his hat on.

“That’s better,” Aoba decided, smiling. It only took a few minutes to collect everyone else and get them in the van. He looked around at everyone, noticing how nobody was wearing the clothes they usually wore back in Midorjima. He himself had a pair of shorts and a tanktop on, like Noiz and Mizuki.

 

“Are those fish?” He asked, leaning closer to look at Mizuki’s shorts. They were pink and had little fish all over them.

“Aren’t they cool?” Mizuki grinned. “Found them at a secondhand store. They double as a swim suit too.”

“I found those first,” Koujaku said, huffing. “And then you bought them before I could.” He looked down at his own outfit--a t-shirt and jeans. “Western-style clothes are so weird to wear after not wearing them for so long.”

“Clothes in general are odd,” Ren decided, also in a t-shirt and jeans. The only real difference in his outfit was that he had taken his one fingerless glove off along with the half long sleeve shirt he wore underneath his t-shirt. Aoba remembered when Ren was first getting used to being a human, he had found clothes uncomfortable and had tried to go about without much of them. Now, he usually wore the same kinds of clothes without much variation, saying that the materials all felt different and he didn’t want to have to get used to them.

“Look how cute Sei looks!” Clear grinned and bounced up and down in his seat. Sei blinked and then blushed, looking away and smoothing the skirt part of his sundress down.

“That dress looks good on you,” Aoba said, smiling at his twin. Sei blushed again and pulled his fedora down lower on his head shyly.

“Thanks…,” he said, not used to all the attention being on him.

“I’m going to get a dress today so we can match!” Clear decided. He smiled and looked down at his own tank top, one that Aoba recognized as Koujaku’s. So Clear didn’t have any beach clothes either. Maybe everyone would end up sharing all their clothes by the end of the vacation, he mused. That wouldn’t be so bad.

“Buckle up!” Clear advised everyone as Mink, not in the mood to wait around and socialize in the cramped van. The ride wasn’t as bad as it was on the way down, everyone seemed to get used to the fact that they were all smushed into one small vehicle.

 

“We have to go to every single shop!” Clear announced excitedly, clapping his hands together.

“Every shop?” Aoba asked. “I don’t think every single shop is going to happen.”

“Then most shops!”

“Why don’t we just find food and then go back,” Noiz suggested sullenly.

“Because that’s no fun!”

 

“Are those bunnies?” Ren suddenly asked, looking out the window.

“BUNNIES?!” Clear asked, smushing his face against the window. Noiz looked up too. Aoba blinked at the sight at the side of the road. A gigantic group of domesticated rabbits huddled under the trees that had been planted there. They all were black and at first glance, they looked like rocks.

“Stop the car,” Noiz demanded, getting up in the cramped van.

“Mink! Stop the car!” Clear echoed. Mink did so, rolling his eyes and setting it into park. Noiz and Clear both ran out of the van and over to the group of bunnies.

“Are they… Trying to catch them?” Mizuki looked dumbfounded.

“I think so.” Koujaku snickered. “They won’t catch any though. Rabbits are pretty fast.”

“What if they do catch one?” Aoba frowned. “We don’t have any way to take care of them.”

“They won’t.”

 

Koujaku was right.  Noiz and Clear didn’t catch one rabbit.

They caught three.

 

“Look!” Clear held one up as he and Noiz walked back to the group. Noiz had the other two in his arms. “His name is Jelly! Like a jellyfish!”

“Guys, you know we can’t actually keep these, right?” Aoba frowned. “We don’t have any way to take care of them.”

“There’s a pet store in town.” Noiz shrugged and got back in the van.

“What did you name yours?” Sei asked Noiz, looking at the small animals in his arms.

“I dunno.” Noiz blinked and then handed one to Sei.

Sei looked at the small creature in his arms. “She’s so soft…”

“Is she?” Noiz looked at him. “I wouldn’t know.”

Sei blinked at him, not understanding what he meant but deciding not to press the matter. Aoba sighed.

“Fine. We’ll go to the pet store first, but we can’t bring large cages with animals back to the house, let alone on that long ride back home. What are you gonna do then? Hm?”

“We’ll figure it out.” Noiz didn’t look up from his bunny and Aoba sighed again.

“To the pet store!” Clear declared, holding his bunny up above his head.

 

They did end up going to the pet store. Noiz and Clear had rushed in to buy their rabbits all that a rabbit could ever want, presumably, although it had been quite a while since they had gone in.

“Maybe we should go drag them out before they buy everything in that damned store,” Koujaku grumbled, crossing his arms.

“I would not be surprised if they did end up doing that…” Ren agreed. “Checking on them would be wise.”

“I’ll go,” Aoba said, getting out of the car and sighing. “Who knew we would find bunnies of all things?”

“Can I come with?” Sei asked, looking over at the pet store.

“Sure!” Aoba smiled, walking inside the pet store with his sibling, seeing Noiz at the register with a pile of things that would indeed make the bunnies they picked up very happy. Aoba walked up, talking to Noiz while Sei went and found Clear who was with the small pet rodents in the glass cages to be sold.

“Hey!” Clear turned around as Sei walked up, smiling and waving. “Noiz is buying our stuff and then we’ll be ready to go back and continue in our adventure!”

Sei nodded, smiling slightly and then looking at the rodents in the cages. There were rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, all sorts of small furry animals. And they didn’t look to be in that great condition either, especially the rats and the mice.

“I think the rats and mice are supposed to be snake food,” Clear commented, glancing over at Sei and seeing where he was looking.

“What?” Sei’s eyes widened as he looked at the mice and rats in two separate cages next to each other. Neither group of rodents looked to be that healthy, as far as Sei could tell.

“I know, it’s so mean!” Clear frowned, seeing Sei’s upset expression. Sei bit his lip. The mice and rats didn’t have much in their cages, a little bit of bedding, some food, a water bottle. There was nothing else, they were doing the minimum required to keep them alive.

“That’s just cruel!” Sei looked over at Clear. “If they’re going to keep them here to sell or give to snakes, shouldn’t they at least get to be happy?”

“Exactly!” Clear tapped on the glass surrounding the group of rats. “Maybe we should buy them all!”

“Can we?” Sei wondered. “We could give them a good life… They deserve it.” He looked at the group of rats and mice, one rat moved up to the glass and looked back at him. He looked into it’s eyes, feeling like he was obligated to take at least one of these rats into custody. He had to save at least one.

“Probably! Maybe we should come back after we walk around though… I don’t think that we could carry any while walking around town.”

“Right.” Sei nodded, turning to the rat that was still watching him and silently making a promise to rescue that one and at least one other. They found Aoba and Noiz, Noiz finishing up his purchases.

“The bunnies will be kept in the back until we come back,” Aoba explained. “We have to be back before nine.”

“Before nine.” Noiz unlocked his coil and set an alarm. “This’ll go off at 8:30. Just in case.”

“Good idea, Noiz!” Clear clapped his hands together in delight. Sei nodded, tugging the skirt of his dress down a little before they all headed out to the car again.

“Next stop, downtown!” Aoba cheered.

“Aoba,” Ren said suddenly. “I studied a map before we left. Where we want to go is only a ten minute walk from here. If we left the van here and walked, we would not have to worry about finding a parking space.”

“Good idea, Ren!” Mizuki cut in before Aoba could agree. He clapped Ren on the back playfully, grinning. Ren looked confused at that, not quite used to human to human interaction, but nodded and bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“Alright! Everybody out!” Koujaku grinned. He was happy to not have to spend much more time in the cramped van, it was too stuffy and made his legs stiff.

“Which way, Ren?” Clear asked, looking around the parking lot.

Ren thought for a moment and then frowned. “I apologize, I don’t remember.”

“No worries,” Koujaku cut in, pulling a sleeping Beni out and tapping him to awaken him. Beni’s eyes opened and he took flight above Koujaku’s palm.

  
“I was having a nice sleep and you interrupted it!” Beni huffed indignantly. “What is it?”

“How do we get downtown?” Koujaku asked meekly. He was used to his allmate’s grumpy attitude and Beni had probably been influenced by his own bad temper anyways.

“That way.” Beni pointed one of his legs to the left while keeping himself in the air. Koujaku smiled. “Thanks.”

“Hmph.” Beni looked around at everyone else and then flew over to Ren and perched himself in his hair, settling down and making himself comfortable. Smiling, Ren remembered what it had been like when they had both been allmates and then struck up a conversation with his friend while everyone began to walk downtown.

“We should definitely explore the beach down there,” Mizuki decided. “And grab some lunch or something.”

“There’s a beach at the house we’re staying at,” Mink muttered.

“Yeah.” Noiz agreed. Without his bunnies to hold his attention, he was back to the grumpy teenager he usually was. “Why do we have to go to a gross crowded one if you want to sit on sand and look at water. It’s not that big of a deal anyways.”

“You two are no fun!” Aoba pouted.

“Yeah,” Koujaku added. “It’s nice here! Enjoy it!”

“I deserve to be able to take the rest of those bunnies home for having to deal with him,” Noiz muttered to nobody in particular.

“Hey. I heard that.” Koujaku scowled. “I’m not going to let you ruin my fun day out, though.”

Noiz rolled his eyes, sticking his hands in his pockets as they walked.

“Lighten up!” Mizuki playfully punched Koujaku on the arm and then did the same to Noiz.

“Yeah!” Clear smiled at the now-scowling Noiz and the exhausted-looking Mink. “We’re gonna have fun! And then we can go back home and make dinner and relax!”

“I guess.” Noiz looked around at the tourists swarming cheap souvenir shops.

 

Aoba surveyed the scene, pausing to look at one of the souvenir shops. His face lit up and he gave a small laugh, running over and pointing to an apron that had the outline of a male figure, complete with muscular pecs and abs.   
“I should buy this to give to Granny!” He said, howling with laughter at the thought of his grandmother in such an apron. If he did get it for her, she would definitely yell at him, but it would be funny too and she would end up wearing it at least once.  

Koujaku ran after him. snickering as well as he viewed the apron. “Do it. She would find that hilarious too.”

“After she stopped yelling at me, maybe.” Aoba laughed again and then looked at him. “Maybe I’ll get it at the end of the day.”

 

They caught up with the rest of the group, Aoba falling into step next to Ren and Sei who were looking around, observing everything.

“There’s so many people,” Sei commented, looking at Aoba. “I mean… There were a lot of people back then--” he meant the time he was kept captive in Platinum Jail, Aoba knew-- “But I never really got to be around them.”

“It’s different, huh,” Aoba agreed. “It’s nice to be somewhere so bright and energetic, though!”

“It feels very different than Midorijima,” Ren decided. “A bit more functional. And it seems safer to walk around by yourself here.”

“Yeah, this part of town, for sure.”

Mizuki dropped back to join the conversation. “Yeah, I like it here. It’s so bright and…” he paused to search for the right word. “Bright and lively. Nice spot you picked for this vacation, Aoba.”

“Glad to see that someone appreciates my efforts,” Aoba muttered jokingly, grinning.

“I appreciate your efforts, Aoba!” Ren said quickly, his eyes widening as he thought of the possibility that Aoba didn’t think he was appreciated. Aoba smiled.

“I was joking,” he explained. “But thanks, Ren! I’m happy that you’re enjoying yourself so far.”

Ren nodded, going back to looking around at everyone passing by, Mizuki paused, twisting to the left.

“Volleyball!” He yelled, grinning. “Who’s up for a game?!”

“I’m always game for a game!” Aoba laughed to himself at the pun he had created.

“I’ll play!” Koujaku paused his walking, looking for the net Mizuki had spotted.

“Me too!” Clear grinned as he clapped his hands together in delight.

“I’ll sit and watch,” Sei decided.

“Same,” Noiz quickly added.

“Mink, Ren,” Aoba looked at the two remaining. “Come join us!”

“If you would like me to,” Ren decided. “I will play.”

Mink rolled his eyes. “If the teams have to be even, fine.”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

 

The volleyball game was quickly set up, they found a ball laying in the sand near the net and split the teams up. Aoba, Mink, and Mizuki were on one team where Ren, Koujaku, and Clear were on the other. Sei and Noiz sat under a nearby umbrella, Sei watching and Noiz playing on his coil.

 

“We’re gonna win,” Koujaku decided, tossing up the volleyball and hitting it for a serve to start the game.

“Not on my watch!” Mizuki bumped the ball up and Aoba grabbed it, spiking it over. Ren blinked as it hit the sand in front of him.

“Sorry,” he muttered to his team, picking it up and tossing it under the net to Aoba. Aoba caught the ball, moving back and serving it.

 

The game was intense, a tie for most of it. They were in the middle of the game when it happened. Koujaku and Mizuki’s friendly rivalry had gotten a bit out of control and they were trying to hit it as hard as they could at each other.

Then it happened.

Mizuki grunted, spiking the ball over the net right into the spot next to Koujaku. Koujaku dove for it and managed to hit it up, but in the wrong direction. The ball spiraled out of the volleyball area and into the face of one of the two people who had started to watch them. None of them had noticed, being too wrapped up in the game.

 

As if in slow motion, the ball fell from the newcomers face. Aoba’s eyes grew wide as he recognized the two people who had come to watch their vollyeball game.

 

Virus stood, his glasses in a diagonal shape across his face as the result of a volleyball being thrown at his face. He looked annoyed as he took his glasses off and inspected them for damage.

“... Pffft-!”

Trip, seeing that Virus hadn’t been actually injured in any way, started to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ive been watching too much volleyball anime)
> 
> hello yes virus and trip have entered, im not sure if theyre gonna stick around but theyre here for at least a little bit because i want sei to be able to bond more with them because of personal headcanons (basically vitri are like sei's big brothers)
> 
> also for the bunny thing??? yes that actually happened to me (we didnt take any of the bunnies but we did see like 23784238742 bunnies on the side of the highway it was really great)  
> (also i love rats very much and thats the only reason that sei is interested in rats really)  
> thanks for reading !


End file.
